Biomass Heating in the UK

18th June 2008

Robin Cotton Managing Director, Wood Energy Ltd Wood Energy Ltd

- Wood Energy Ltd are a leading UK provider of biomass boilers with over c.47,000kW of capacity and c.160 projects to date across UK and Ireland. Currently 38 staff. Founded 2002.

- Expanding rapidly with head office in South West England and offices in Ireland, Wales and Scotland.

- Distributors for UK & Ireland of Binder GmbH boilers since 2003

- Full in-house design & engineering staff within WEL Wood Energy biomass boiler (cumulative) sales

- 2002: 0 kW

- 2003: 0 kW

- 2004: 0 kW

- 2005: 10,000 kW

- 2006: 20,000 kW

- 2007: 30,000 kW

- 2008: 55,000 kW

Cumulative kW sales from 2002 to 2008. WEL Biomass Installations in Wales

- To date 23 biomass boilers installed or under construction
- Ranging from 50kW to 1 MW
- Estimated consumption c. 4,000 tonnes of wood fuel per annum
- Estimated carbon saving c. 2500 tonnes CO$\_2$/year ICE Brent Crude Oil Closing Price (begin July 1988)

Average monthly data from July 1988 through May 2008

oilenergy.com, 2008 Average Heating Oil price (1 year) Typical Fuel Costs in the UK (p/kWh), June 2008

- Wood Chip

- Wood Pellet

- Mains Gas

- Heating Oil

- LPG Markets

- Domestic 10/15/25kW

- Small commercial 30-200kW

- Hotels 200-500kW

- Public Buildings + district heating 0.3-1.0MW

- Secondary schools 0.5-1.0MW

- Hospitals 1.0-3.0MW

- Process Heat 1.0-10MW Boiler technology

- Fully automatic feed

- Electric/oil/gas ignition

- Capacity control

- Remote system control

- Remote monitoring

- Automatic cleaning

- Automatic ash extraction

- Typical efficiency 90% +

- Very low ash remains Boiler Technology - emphasis of low

Automatic ash removal from the boiler

High-velocity air cleaning system

Cyclone to remove fly-ash from the emissions Wood Fuel key Characteristics

Quality of Wood Fuel

- Moisture content of the wood fuel
- Particle size of the wood fuel

Delivery of Wood Fuel

- Wood fuel transport equipment
- Wood fuel store design Wood Fuel Types

Wood Pellets

- High density, low moisture content
- “Standard” product
- Tanker delivery – flows similar to a liquid
- Boiler and fuel store generally simpler & cheaper
- Many production facilities now in the UK

Wood Chip

- Can vary in particle size, moisture content
- Low bulk density
- Difficult to handle
- Widely available – sawmill residues, forestry residues, clean recycled wood, energy crops…
- Lower cost per unit of energy The Senedd Building, Cardiff - 2005

360kW Binder wood boiler commissioned October 2005. Carbon Saving c. 120 tonnes CO₂/year Penmorfa District Heating, Ceredigion 2005

- County Council Offices
- Sheltered Housing
- Nursing Home
- Small district heating loop fuelled by 550kW wood-boiler and 250kW oil for peaks Llandrindod High School, Powys 2005

450kW Step-grate machine Maximum moisture 50% 20,000litre buffer tank Remote monitoring & control Llandrindod High School – Hook Bin System Swansea Leisure Centre 2008

500kW Binder step-grate wood chip boiler Designed for G100/W50 wood chip

Hook bin wood chip delivery system

Carbon Saving c. 120 tonnes CO₂/year Summary & Conclusions

- Biomass heating has a central role to play in the UK’s energy mix
- Biomass can make a significant contribution to reducing carbon emissions, security of supply and help the local economy
- High quality biomass boiler technology is available in the UK with trained local technical support
- Wood fuel supply infrastructure is being established and is gaining experience
- Biomass market still relatively small
- The expansion of the industry needs to be DEMAND led – the boiler capacity needs to reach a critical size to establish large scale biomass heating sector